Violent rhetoric

Lots of people out there right now, spinning furiously, trying to absolve Sarah Palin of any responsibility for her violent rhetoric now that some nutbar has tried to shoot up a Congressman, killing a nine-year-old girl and others in the process.

And you know what? It’s entirely possibly the nutbar in question never listed to Sarah Palin at all. But even if he didn’t, Sarah Palin is still responsible for her violent rhetoric.

Palin, Bachmann, Beck, O’Reilly, Limbaugh: they’re still hateful demagogues. Whether they inspired this lunatic or not, whether they inspired George Tiller’s murderer or not, they’re still part of a vicious circle. Shootings, rhetoric; shootings, demagoguery. And at the end of the day, these right-wing blowhards are still talking irreponsible smack which is chilling political discourse and they’re responsible for that.

Not that they’ll ever admit it. Rhetoric is power to them and they’d sooner give up oxygen than power.